RETURNS TO SORTING AND MARKET TIMING OF ANIMALS WITHIN PENS OF FED CATTLE

This research examines returns to cattle feeding operations that sort animals prior to marketing using ultrasound technology. The returns to sorting are between $11 and$25 per head depending on the number of groups the pens into which cattle can be sorted. Sorting faces declining returns. These returns can also be viewed as the costs imposed by institutional constraints that limit co-mingling of cattle. Through sorting, cattle feeding operations are able to reduce meat quality discounts, increase meat quality premiums, increase beef carcass quality characteristics, more efficiently use feed resources, and increase profits

RETURNS TO MARKET TIMING AND SORTING OF FED CATTLE

This research examines the returns to a cattle feeding operation that sorts animals prior to marketing using ultrasound technology. The returns to sorting are between $11 and$25 per head depending on the number of groups the pens in which cattle can be sorted. Sorting faces declining returns. These returns can also be viewed as the costs imposed by institutional constraints that limit co-mingling of cattle. Through sorting, cattle feeding operations are able to reduce meat quality discounts, increase meat quality premiums, increase beef carcass quality characteristics, more efficiently use feed resources, and increase profits

Production Inefficiency in Fed Cattle Marketing and the Value of Sorting Pens into Alternative Marketing Groups Using Ultrasound Technology

The cattle industry batch markets animals in pens. Because of this, animals within any one pen can be both underfed and overfed. Thus, there is a production inefficiency associated with batch marketing. We simulate the value of sorting animals through weight and ultrasound measurements from original pens into smaller alternative marketing groups. Sorting exploits the production inefficiency and enables cattle feeding enterprises to avoid meat quality discounts, capture premiums, more efficiently use feed resources, and increase returns. The value of sorting is between $15 and$25 per head, with declining marginal returns as the number of sort groups increases

RETURNS TO MARKET TIMING AND SORTING OF FED CATTLE

This research examines the returns to a cattle feeding operation that sorts animals prior to marketing using ultrasound technology. The returns to sorting are between $11 and$25 per head depending on the number of groups the pens in which cattle can be sorted. Sorting faces declining returns. These returns can also be viewed as the costs imposed by institutional constraints that limit co-mingling of cattle. Through sorting, cattle feeding operations are able to reduce meat quality discounts, increase meat quality premiums, increase beef carcass quality characteristics, more efficiently use feed resources, and increase profits.Livestock Production/Industries,